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Trade Surplus Drops 92%;
Surplus With U.S. Rises 82%

TOKYO -- Japan's merchandise trade surplus plummeted 92% in January, but the politically troublesome surplus with the U.S. rose 82%.

The Finance Ministry said the overall merchandise trade surplus, measured as goods passed through customs, reached 5.19 billion yen ($41.7 million) in January, compared with a surplus of 62.9 billion yen a year earlier. Analysts said the sharp drop resulted from a long series of holidays at the beginning...